Camera Obscura
Tapestry, 2025
9/10
The saxophonist and composer Felipe Salles brings both jazz and chamber ideas to these 10 tracks that welcome some impressive guests.
Nando Michelin’s graceful keys start the title track, where Salles’ rich winds emit much color and playfulness, and “Remembrance (For David Liebman)” follows with strong attention to tonality and mood via the elegant flute and mesmerizing keys.
Halfway through, “Rooms” showcases Steve Langone’s well timed drumming alongside the cinematic qualities, while “Perception” allows for Salles’ skilled clarinet to guide the rich and unpredictable album highlight.
“Lucidity” and “Trem De Prata” exit the record. The former is a darker moment that benefits from The Cushman Quartet’s cautious strings, and the latter rumbles a bit amid the initial intimacy before Salles’ sax acrobatics suit the frisky rhythm section.
A sonically engaging experience that is both imaginative and creative, Salles’ Brazilian roots are very much intact across the atypical jazz where he plays all the wind instruments.
Travels well with: The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra- Mixed Bag; Phil Haynes- Transition(s)